Books crackdown a story of overkill

What has been happening at the city's public libraries is a typical case of overkill.

Since the director of audit released a critical report, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has been racing to root out library collections that may be conceived to be contrary to the national security law imposed by Beijing.

In this movement, book titles and other materials are being removed from shelves if they look "suspicious."

Titles that have been the subject of complaints are also taken off the shelves immediately, with their fate decided later.

If they are judged innocent after review, these titles and materials will be cleared to be put back on the shelves. Otherwise, they will never see the light again.

In such a race, library staff cannot be expected to pass a reasonable judgment as would be expected in a normal situation.

They probably believe that what is going on could be overkill but press ahead with it because they'd rather be safe than sorry.

As the cleansing operation proceeds, there is no room for any benefit of the doubt in libraries, whether public or in schools.

While the LCSD removes sensitive books and video materials from 71 public libraries, authorities have not yet announced how many titles have been pulled from the facilities.

But a teacher who has been monitoring public library collections has reportedly found his list of vanishing titles expanded suddenly in the past week to more than 200.

Titles related to the June 4 movement in 1989 are all gone. Works by satirical cartoonist Zunzi have been pulled. Publications authored by some political figures like Szeto Wah or academics such as renowned historian Yu Ying-shin are also reported to have been removed.

No less ironic are reports that works by leading modern Chinese writer Lu Xun and long-time popular classic Animal Farm are also affected as schools scrutinize their library collections.

The ongoing situation is concerning.

As the list of book titles disappearing from public libraries continues to grow, neither Cultural Secretary Kevin Yeung Yun-hung nor Education Secretary Christine Choi Yuk-lin has been able to say clearly what is considered acceptable and what is not under the new normal.

The standards seem to be arbitrary.

Surprisingly or not, the situation has also bewildered some pro-Beijing figures. Political scientist Lau Siu-kai, for example, believes the standards appear to have been tightened too stringently.

Executive Council member Ronny Tong Ka-wah has also called for the standards to be spelled out clearly.

What we are seeing is overkill that should be addressed.

Yesterday, the cultural secretary said authorities were conducting a review of the content of public library books in accordance with audits.

He promised that titles that have been pulled will be reviewed and put back to the shelves if they pass clearance.

It is a welcome pledge.

Will the move against books and other literature at libraries be over soon? Keep our fingers crossed.